Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / Shakespeare
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of one of the most famous soliloquies in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow — To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28) Context The soliloquy is spoken by Macbeth's titular character. It occurs in the beginning of the 5th scene of Act 5, during the time when the English troops, led by Malcolm and Macduff, are approaching Macbeth's castle to besiege it. Macbeth, the play's protagonist, is confident that he can withstand any siege from Malcolm's forces. He hears the cry of a woman and reflects that there was a time when his hair would have stood on end if he had heard such a cry, but he is now so full of horrors and slaughterous thoughts that it can no longer startle him. Seyton then tells Macbeth of Lady Macbeth's death. Macbeth replies, "She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word,". and then delivers this soliloquy as his response to the news. Shortly afterwards he is told of the apparent movement of Birnam Wood towards Dunsinane Castle (as the witches previously prophesied to him), which is actually Malcolm's forces having disguised themselves with tree branches so as to disguise their numbers as they approach the castle. This sets the scene for the final events of the play and Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff. Analysis In Macbeth's final soliloquy the audience sees his final conclusion about life: it is devoid of any meaning, full of contrived struggles. Days on this earth are short, a "brief candle" and an ignorant march towards a fruitless demise, "lighted fools. . . to dusty death." A person's life is so insubstantial that it is comparable to an actor who fills minor roles in an absurd play. There is a struggle for substance in life, the actor who "struts and frets his hour" or a playwright who tells "a tale full of sound and fury" but it is contrived and senseless and will thus fade into obscurity, a tale "Told by an idiot. . . Signifying nothing" in which a "walking shadow" performs "And then is heard no more". Macbeth's feelings towards Lady Macbeth in this soliloquy are not as clear as the main theme. There are many opinions regarding Macbeth's initial reaction when he hears that his wife is dead. Those who take the first line to mean "she would have died at sometime, either now or later" usually argue that it illustrates Macbeth's callous lack of concern for Lady Macbeth. Macbeth said in Scene III of the same act that the battle would cheer him ever after or unseat him now. Up to that time he had expected to win the battle; he was ready to laugh the siege to scorn when interrupted by a woman's cry. His visionary thought may have pictured the victory as restoring him to the man he once was. He pauses on the word "hereafter" - two feet are missing from the meter - and realises that the time will never come. Depressingly, he reflects that if it could have been, if he could have gone back, there would have been time to consider that word, death, and mourn properly. Now, however, since there will be no victory or going back, and she is gone, the tomorrows will creep on with their insignificantly slow pace to the very end of all time. Recognition In popular culture * "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" is a 1953 short story by Kurt Vonnegut *All our Yesterdays" is used as the title of several works *"The Way to Dusty Death" is a 1973 novel by Alistair MacLean *"Out, Out—" is a 1916 poem by Robert Frost *"Sound and fury" is the title of several works, including a novel by William Faulkner and a 2000 documentary about deaf children. References External links ;About *Soliloquy Translation *Explanation of the scene Category:Monologues Category:Shakespearean phrases Category:Macbeth Category:16th-century poems Category:English poems Category:Text of poem Category:Blank verse